questions about: memory, PSU, mobo

Ram is fine, though I would have gone with Mushkin. Based on what I've heard, there isn't much difference between 1333 and 1600 though...

1000 watt is fine.

I would recommend getting the X58 mobo.

Windows tweaking is not really worth it . . . you can easily do it yourself.

Big question is what resolution are you going to use?

with an i7 920 you wont notice the difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz RAM so that is a bit of a waste. You sure you only need 60gb on your main drive? Since your OS will take up a good part of that and a few games will fill it. You can spend an extra $50 and get a 300gb veloci which is a much better value. Also split your 1TB into 2x500gb drive it makes it a lot easier to scan and back up. Also if one goes bad you don't lose all of your data. Id also suggest getting 2xgtx 275s the cost a considerable amount less and are on par or outperform the 295 depending on the app. There any particular reason you need ultimate instead of home premium?

Originally posted by dark20011 with an i7 920 you wont notice the difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz RAM so that is a bit of a waste. You sure you only need 60gb on your main drive? Since your OS will take up a good part of that and a few games will fill it. You can spend an extra $50 and get a 300gb veloci which is a much better value. Also split your 1TB into 2x500gb drive it makes it a lot easier to scan and back up. Also if one goes bad you don't lose all of your data. Id also suggest getting 2xgtx 275s the cost a considerable amount less and are on par or outperform the 295 depending on the app. There any particular reason you need ultimate instead of home premium?

Edited by bluexselvedge - 05 May 2009 at 12:45am

you are wasting your money on the ssd, also, intel is not faster, wait till the end of the year then upgrade to ssd then when faster ones are out and prices should be better atleast on a current one.

if you want ssd now, then go get 3 x 30GB vertex and raid them, you will be triple the speed of the intel or the vertex listed here and would only pay $360, or if you need more room then raid 3 x 60GB vertex.

so waiting till the end of the year or waiting to get the system and then doing the raid yourself, this system is best:

here you go Ticket# 277508 --- Price: $2514 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2389

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: Paint Screws and Hose Clamps (Red)
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1333MHz Mushkin (Highly Recommended) (Digital Storm Certified)
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Card Reader: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Optical Drive 2: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: High-Performance Liquid Chilled FrostBite System For CPU
Liquid Color:Red: Non-conductive High-Performance Fluid (Requires H20: Stage 3 Cooling Package)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Install/Test Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

the ram speed makes no difference and has no baring on your OC on CPU anymore, they can be unlinked, also 1333MHz ram with a 8 multiplier can take you all the way to 5.3GHz, the i7's multipliers are around 20, so you figure it out

My pleasure boss

as you see I split the 1TB to 2 drives that way you can use one of the 500GB HDDs as OS drive then when you upgrade your HDD1 to a SSD, you can push the current 500GB to HDD3 leaving you with SSD for OS drive HDD1 and HDD2 and HDD3 500GB each for storage fora total of 1TB for storage.

that ticket has the best bang for your buck but I also think its a great idea to sleep on it, things are not going anywhere, take your time

Size of your HDD1 depends on how much space you need, power users need only 60GB at most, gamers will need 200GB or maybe even more cause games these days are getting pretty big and you want your games on the fastest drive.

personally I'm not big on raid, unless you want to back up your raid once a night, cause in raid 0, if one HDD goes bad, you lose all data.

as you posted my quote from another thread, raiding veloci will run you like $400 so for the same money 3 x 30GB vertex will be much faster. benefit of raid for gamers is nothing but apps and games loading faster, but seektime will help the game performance a bit, which raid can't improve.